Thursday, February 27, 2014

Laura Visit

I took Amtrak for 11 hours to visit Laura and it was such a fun ride.  It was long, but I didn't have to pay attention to the road which wasn't the greatest for driving in certain areas but I was also able to not only listen to my book but also knit!!




















I arrived in Boston only a little late and Laura was there to pick me up.  It was Valentines Day and she had a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me.  One of the big pluses for the weekend was that my cortisone shot kicked in and my hip wasn't bothering me.
 
On Saturday we made a trip to WW since it was the last day for my weigh-in and I was at goal - YEA!!
Then we went to TJ Maxx which was just across the street and we both scored in the shopping department.  Laura finally got the purse she was looking for since Christmas and another one too!  I got 2 white sweaters which I've been looking for.  Well, I was looking for one but sound a shrug and a long one.  After that we went grocery shopping because a storm was forecasted for later in the day and didn't want to be caught without supplies.
On Sunday there was enough snow for the plow guy to come but it wasn't as bad as further east.  While Laura was at the gym, I made squash soup.

Monday we went to check out where the new Wegmans was going to be in Newton and did a tour of Equinox which is above it.
The country club of fitness clubs!http://www.equinox.com/clubs/chestnuthill

Then we went to Best Buy and updated Laura's TV.

And we never even took any pictures of us until I left on Tuesday morning.
Unfortunately (for Larry more than me) my train getting back to Rochester was 2 hours late so he had to pick me up at 1:00 AM.


Monday, February 24, 2014

Magic Cake

I saw this recipe and wanted to try it and I did.
It took a long time to make (the preliminaries, not the baking) and it was pretty good but I don't know if I would make it again, although it looks pretty.

CHOCOLATE MAGIC CAKE
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 60 min
Serves 9

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs, at room temperature and separated
1 tbsp water
¾ cup sugar (150 g)
1 stick of butter (125 g), melted
6.5 tbsp all purpose flour (65 g)
6 tbsp cocoa powder (50 g)
2 cups milk (500 ml), warmed up
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease and flour an 8×8 inch baking pan.
  • Separate the eggs and add the egg yolks to the bowl of a mixer. Add a tbsp of water to the egg yolks and add the sugar. Beat this at high until eggs are light and creamy.
  • Add melted butter, vanilla extract and salt to mixer and continue beating until butter is fully incorporated and mixture is light and fluffy.
  • You can mix the cocoa and flour together and add to the mixing bowl in batches, 3 times should be enough. After each addition mix thoroughly.
  • Once flour and cocoa powder has been mixed in, add the milk a bit at a time and mix. The milk should be warm so not to cool the butter. Make sure the milk has been mixed in thoroughly, the mixture should be pretty liquidy, so don’t get scared.
  • Clean the mixing bowl and whisk attachment and make sure you dry it out. Add egg whites to mixing bowl and the vinegar and mix until egg whites are stiff.
  • Add a bit of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently fold in. Next you’re going to reverse and add a bit of the chocolate mixture to the egg whites. This way it will be easier to mix everything together. Repeat until everything is well mixed and the mixture should be thin like a pancake batter.
  • Pour the batter in the prepared baking dish and bake for roughly 60 minutes or until done. The cake will still jiggle in the middle when you take it out, so that’s normal. Let it cool completely then cut into squares and serve.

http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/magic-cake/

Next time try this one:
http://www.mbskitchen.com/chocolate-magic-custard-cake/
or
http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/chocolate-magic-custard-cake/
I think proportions of ingredients are the same on those two

Magic Cake

Save Print
Serves: 8
Ingredients
4 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 Tbsp water
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons (5.3 oz, 150 g) sugar
1 stick (125 g) butter, melted
¾ cup (4 oz, 115 g) flour
2 cups (500 ml) milk, lukewarm
2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Mix egg whites until stiff.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar, water and vanilla until light. Add melted butter and continue beating for another minute. Then add the flour and mix it in.
Add the milk (it has to be lukewarm, otherwise the butter will harden) and beat until well incorporated.
Gently fold in beaten egg whites using a spatula.
Pour batter into a greased 8 inch x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) baking dish (do not use spring form because batter is too liquid and the pan could leak) and bake in preheated 325 F oven for about 60 minutes or until the top is golden.
Cool in the pan for at least 3 hours. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.
- See more at: http://www.kitchennostalgia.com/desserts/cakes/magic-cake.html

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Projects

Ever since Villa Roma my left hip really bothered me.  So much so that I haven't been to Yoga since January 19th.  Even had to cancel out of the 1880 House.  We've had more cancelled vacations this winter but if you're not feeling good it always feels better to stay home.

So while I was sitting around I started knitting a pair of socks.  I love the colors but of course I didn't do that swatch to make sure the needles were the right size so they came out too loose.  I made those on a size 2 and now I'm making another pair, different color, not as pretty, using a size 0.

Then I made a pair of furry trim slippers for me.  This is the first pair I really tried on and realized that I didn't like the feel of the yarn on my bare foot or how unstructured they felt.  So I bought some insoles and glued fleece on them.

I'm going to bring a pair to Laura, hope she likes them.
And while I'm at it, I made these necklaces awhile ago but never posted any pictures.  Now I have to figure out what to do with them.  I've given some as gifts but have bunches more.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Broccoli-Cheese Soup



Broccoli-Cheese Soup
http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/broccoli-cheese-soup-recipe-14108.aspx#axzz2sTGVLPQR

Chocolate Fudge Pie



Sue made this for bridge club last month and it was so rich and delicious, I could only eat half of my piece and brought the other half home for Larry.  He also thought it was delicious but I told him I would never make it because it was way too fattening.  But then I needed a dessert to bring to Patti's Super Bowl Party and this was the first thing that came to mind.  So I dashed off an email to Sue and she promptly replied back.  The recipe is so easy and no wonder it is so rich and fattening, just look at these ingredients.